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 Swim
Comments: Wanted to redeem myself for my swim performance at Indiana Downs. I started near the back of the wave, towards the left and waited 20 seconds before I started. The strategy worked (for me) and I was able to get into pretty clear water quickly. Ended up towards the right of the pack (and started worrying about head-on collisions with inbound swimmers). Breathed to the right the whole time so I could keep track of the bouys. Made the turn, and still seemed to be drifting right. Average drafting for me (which really means not at all), but no stop-and-go and I didn't get run over, so I'll call it a success. Walked up the beach as I stripped of the top half of my wetsuit. What would you do differently?: Need to work on open water navigation.  Transition 1
Comments: Pulled off the wetsuit, cap, and goggles, put on my helmet, then my jersey (DUH!) put on shoes (no socks) and headed out. What would you do differently?: Jersey first, THEN the helmet...  Bike
Comments: Good start out of the park, then I dropped my chain starting up the first hill towards town. Took a minute to put it back on, then had to rebuild momentum up the hill. (I think the slack as I dropped from the 53 to the 39 while on one of the smaller cogs was too much for the old derailleur.) Stayed in the aero bars most of the time, getting out for some turns in town and a couple of the hills. Started drinking the Powerade, but it left me with extreme cotton-mouth. Plan was to eat an energy bar along with the drink, but just could not convince myself to try eating. Lots of rolling hills on the North side of town. It is hay season, and they've been out mowing, so they hay was drying in the fields and the oder wafted across the road a few places. Also a couple of cattle farms. As I neared the turn-around, I saw one of the sprayers (the kind with the 5-foot skinny tires) behind a cyclist coming back. It looked like the sprayer could just drive over the cyclist without touching him (a Kodak moment in my mind at that instant). Made the turn and headed back to town. The rest of the ride was just keeping my speed up and trying to hang with the other cyclists on their fancy bikes. As I got back to the lake, I got out of my shoes and coasted the last 30 feet into T2. What would you do differently?: Get the liquids sorted out. Luckily, it wasn't a scorcher of a day. Eating something would have helped the run too. Still, I can't complain about a 20.4 mph bike leg. Transition 2
Comments: Everything seemed to click. Grabbed a water coming out of T2. Put on socks with my running shoes, grabbed my running hat. What would you do differently?: Can't think of anything I'd really change.  Run
Comments: The first mile or so, my shins were screaming, but then things settled down. Walked each aid station (every mile) and drank a water since I knew I was behind on fluids. They had the right volunteers at the top of the hill, hooting and cheering everyone as they got to the top. I was encouraging another guy who'd walk, then run past me, then walk again. We hung together (relatively) for at least 2 miles. I finally went ahead of him about mile 5. Shuffled along knowing that not eating was going to cost me on the run, but that I'd still finish in less than 3 hours. About 200 yards from the finish line, I heard footsteps behind me and we had a mad dash to the finish (I crossed ahead of the other guy, who happened to be in my AG). What would you do differently?: Nutrition on the bike. This was a survival run. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed a water, and walked back along the run with the camera to get a picture of Shawn. Cheered the runners coming in behind me. Was on my way back to the finish when Shawn came by. Had a BBQ sandwich, fruit, more water, and a beer while waiting for the awards. What limited your ability to perform faster: Drinking/nutrition on the bike. Event comments: This was my first OLY and I wanted to do it as a training race for my HIM in August. I'd like to do several more OLY's, and after the HIM, I may focus on the shorter races. I don't know if I'll do this again next year due to a possible backpacking trip. Profile Album Last updated: 2006-03-24 12:00 AM
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United States
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 117/191
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 11/19
Arrived in Pella Friday afternoon and toured the historic area downtown. Sampled baked goods at Jaarsma bakery :) Checked into hotel and headed over to the pre-race pasta dinner and checkin. Met up with Shawn Barr and his wife at the dinner. Got up 5:45, and as I took my bike downstairs, saw "rain" on the sidewalk. I thought "no, it isn't supposed to rain until later today..." then realized it was from the sprinkler system (whew). Had a hard-boiled egg, OJ, 2 cups of coffee, and a danish, grabbed a few more things and headed over to the race site. As I'm unloading, I realize I'd left my backpack with EVERYTHING (wetsuit, jersey, race number, running shoes, ...). Sent my wife back scrambling for the backpack (luckily, the hotel was only 3 minutes away). Got marked and started setting up transition with the few things I had. They announce that the water temp is 77F, so wetsuits will be legal (I was going to wear it for practice). The lady at the next rack made some comment like "Thank You, GOD, for making me a fish today..." About then, I hear a pop...pffffttttt... and I have a very sad rear tire. Grabbed my tools (which luckily weren't in the backpack) and started to tear into the rear tire. Found the problem, put in a new tube and called my wife to see if she could bring the spare tire too (I didn't use it after all). She shows up with my youngest two boys, the wayward backpack, and the rest of what I needed. I scramble to get the tire finished before they close the transition area.
Change a tube, call my wife, when I finally get all my stuff, I pulled on my wetsuit (which is a pretty good warmup). Zipped up the wetsuit and realized my swim cap is tucked into the waistband of my tri-shorts (under the wetsuit). Unzip the wetsuit, grab the swim cap, re-zip the wetsuit.
Did enough to get my HR up to race-pace!